Building a Ruin
Writing about history, political economy, and whatever else comes to mind

Latest

May
22
Reading Club Update and The Role of Theory and History (also stuff on dollars and BRI)

Reading Club Update and The Role of Theory and History (also stuff on dollars and BRI)

A few weeks ago, I did a poll on what to do for a premium feature on this website, and
7 min read
May
06
Another note

Another note

I am getting a lot of new members here, which is pushing up my fees for running this blog/newsletter.
2 min read
Apr
15
Economists We'll Be Talking About: Wassily Leontief

Economists We'll Be Talking About: Wassily Leontief

My theory of how economics interacts with policy is a bit more complicated than some more popular accounts. Very good
9 min read
Apr
12
Wow...

Wow...

Hi All, My mailbox exploded in the past few weeks with notifications that people were signing up for this website.
2 min read
Mar
21
Dark Brandon and American Liberal's Disillusionment with Europe

Dark Brandon and American Liberal's Disillusionment with Europe

There is a running meme on the internet with relatively left-leaning, younger folks who we'd take to be left-liberals involving
6 min read
Mar
13
SVB, Bailouts, and How to Regulate Capitalism

SVB, Bailouts, and How to Regulate Capitalism

The SVB bailout has made me very mad. Not because it is a particularly egregious bailout. Compared to the 2008
6 min read
Jan
23
No Future: Vladimir Mau, RANEPA, Kirilenko, and the End of the Technocratic Dream in Russia

No Future: Vladimir Mau, RANEPA, Kirilenko, and the End of the Technocratic Dream in Russia

Suppose you are a reader of this blog/newsletter, and given that you are here, I assume you are. In
10 min read
Dec
26
Russia's Spookification And North Koreanization PT 1

Russia's Spookification And North Koreanization PT 1

This post is about Russian politics and ties together my thoughts over the past day, which I have already tweeted
4 min read
Dec
14
What Makes an EM?

What Makes an EM?

Hi Readers, As some of you know, I teach a course on economic policies in emerging markets at Tufts' GBA
4 min read
Dec
08
Problems of an American Industrial Strategy I: Kindleberger's Dilemma and the Development State

Problems of an American Industrial Strategy I: Kindleberger's Dilemma and the Development State

Last week, I organized a conference on various dimensions of coordination in implementing an industrial policy as part of Berggruen's
6 min read